


Yours

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Around Every Corner [5]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings Realization, Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-23 22:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14342766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Mac and Jack finally see themselves through each other's eyes. (post-ep for 2x20)***Now with fluffy epilogue***





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A detailed explanation of the Jack analysis/timeline I used can be found [here.](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com/post/173044335886/macgyver-2016-why-rebootjack-dalton-is-waaay)

Bozer's Pops was a wise man, but in this case his advice wasn't exactly helpful. After three hours of lying there, staring up at the ceiling as he tried every trick he could think of to shut his brain down, Mac finally gave up and got out of bed. He decided if he was awake anyway he might as well get to work, so he sat down at the desk and prepared to go through the entire file again.

But that didn't work either, because all he could see was Ralph Jericho's face when Ethan ran into his arms. _That_ was how you showed your son you loved them, not some weird self-reliance program or an impenetrable code instead of a phone call. Why was he even trying to crack this stupid file? Odds were, the answers he wanted _still_ wouldn't be on the other side.

So he ended up at the fire pit, staring into the flames and trying to decide if he'd regret just dropping the whole folder into the fire. He still wasn't entirely sure what the answer was when he heard the door open behind him.

"I let myself in," Jack said quietly, before Mac had the chance to do much more than tense. "And before you point out that's kind of a tacky thing to do after midnight, I saw the light from the fire pit." He sat down next to Mac. "I'd say it's something you should worry about, security-wise, but the first thing we should tackle on that particular list is the fact that I strolled in here this late at night, and neither you or Bozer noticed."

"Bozer's still asleep," Mac said, something inside him easing at Jack's presence. "Why aren't you? Still too jazzed about living 'Die Hard'?"

"Nope." Jack shook his head, expression easy. "I knew _you_ wouldn't be able to sleep after watching our favorite little brat get his happy reunion with dear old dad. Thought you might want some company."

Mac's chest tightened. He still wasn't really sure how he'd lucked out enough to have Jack in his life this long, but he was grateful for it every single day. "Thanks, man."

Jack smiled. "Any time." Then his expression took on a goofy edge. "Though if you _wanted_ to re-live some of the greatest hits from today, I wouldn't exactly say no."

Mac found himself smiling as well, Jack's good humor as infectious as it ever was. "That trick you pulled with Ethan and the radio was pretty impressive. I probably would have tried to have us fake a conversation, but they would have picked up on that since we'd been smart enough to stay off the radio before then. With your idea, though, they didn't suspect a thing."

Jack's face dimmed as he waved off the compliment. "You want impressive, we should talk about the electroshock therapy you pulled on those guys. That was more than a McClane move. That was a _superhero_ move."

Mac's brow lowered, recognizing the deflection. "You have good ideas, Jack. I know we get in this habit of me coming up with the plans and you doing the shooting, but that's just habit. If you come up with some sort of tactical idea when we're out on a job, I will absolutely go along with it."

Jack didn't say anything for a long moment, staring into the fire. "You ever think about what it must have been like for Jericho, to hear his kid on the radio like that?" he said finally. "Scared? Calling out for Dad, while he was stuck outside completely helpless?"

Mac didn't know what was going on right now, but he knew Jack's voice sounded like it hurt. "You helped save his son." He laid a hand on Jack's arm. "That's what mattered."

Jack slowly shook his head. "No, what matters is that I knew Jericho was probably out there and I didn't _care_." His voice was rough. "Just like I risked Jill's career, and manipulated Riley's dad, because I needed them to get at Matty's safe."

Mac was getting seriously alarmed now. "I do stuff like that all the time. It's part of the job."

Jack had his "I'm going to smile matter how much this hurts" face. Like always, just seeing it was enough to make Mac's chest ache. "If I'd done your trick with the electricity, it would have absolutely been set to kill. It wouldn't even have occurred to me not to."

Mac tightened his hand on Jack's arm, angry at himself now for not ever realizing how deep this went. "You're a good person, Jack."

"That's nice of you to say, Mac." When Jack finally turned to look at him, his eyes were raw. "I hope like hell you never find out about any of the things that would make you change your mind." He cleared his throat. "I like being a goofball. No one's ever scared of the goofball, and no one gives him a chance to show just how good he can be at hurting people. He just has to make sure no one shoots the idea guy, the superhero who hates killing people so much he won't even carry a gun."

Mac just stared, horrified by what was happening but clueless how to stop it. "Jack...."

"It's okay. Not your fault this all crawled up too close to the surface at some point when I wasn't paying attention." Jack swallowed, pushing himself to his feet. "But that does mean I need to go put it away again so no one else trips over it. I know you won't sleep, but do me a favor and at least look up some meditation videos on—"

Denial rose inside Mac like a wave. "Stop." He scrambled to his feet, stopping his partner with a hand around his wrist. "Look at me."

Jack went still, but he didn't turn around. "It's better this way," he said quietly. "I don't ever want you seeing this side of me too closely."

Mac would do a hell of a lot for Jack, but this was too important. "What side?" he said fiercely, tugging Jack around to face him. "The side that's so bound and determined to protect the people who need it that he'll do whatever he has to in order to make that happen? Or maybe the side that's _so_ good, and _so_ compassionate, that it clearly _kills_ you every time you make a hard call?”

"It doesn't matter what I feel guilty about," Jack said, the self-hatred so clear on his face that Mac wanted to scream. "What matters is that I was willing to do it in the first place."

"To _save_ people,” Mac countered, desperate to make Jack understand. "To save _me_ , over and over again."

"Anything I've ever done to save you, I'd do it again a thousand times over,” Jack said quietly, conviction in every word. "But that doesn't make me a good person."

"Fine,” Mac shot back, almost angry now. “If you're going to be so damn stubborn about it then we won't call it good. But don’t you _dare_ think that there’s something inside you that would ever make me run, or even think less of you. You are the best thing that has _ever_ happened to me, without question, and even if I spend the rest of my life doing good it won't be enough to deserve the fact that you're somehow still _here_. There is not an _inch_ of you, inside or out, that I'm not in love with."

Mac only realized he'd said the words when he heard them leave his mouth, watching the shock flood Jack's face as he processed exactly what they meant. This was the moment he should scramble to take them back, Mac knew, stammer out some sort of alternate phrasing they could both pretend was what he'd meant to say in the first place.

It wouldn't be true, though. Mac knew that with such a sudden, bone deep certainty that a part of him was amazed he hadn't figured it out before now. It was so obvious, so fundamental to who he was, that _everyone_ should have figured it out.

Another part of him, though, had the terrible suspicion that this was the one puzzle his brain had specifically _kept_ him from putting together. He’d used every other explanation in the book, and flat-out avoided thinking about anything he couldn’t explain, because the other option was confronting a truth that might finally be enough to chase Jack away.

Mac made himself let go, knowing that would be a thousand times easier than feeling Jack pull away. “Maybe you’re right.” His voice was rough, but it was taking all the effort he had to make sure it didn’t actually crack. Jack looked like he was a few seconds away from crying, but if he tried to say something kind right now Mac was pretty sure he would break completely. “We clearly both have stuff we need to put away, and it might be better if we did that on our own.”

Jack let out a shaky breath, expression raw in a completely different way now. “You were so _damn_ beautiful.”

It was so different than anything he’d expected Jack to say that it took Mac a second to actually process the words. Once he did, his heart stopped. “What?”

“I know you’re not supposed to use that word to describe guys, but it was true then and it’s true now.” Jack’s eyes were wet, but his expression had eased somehow. “I’d heard about people who supposedly shined, but I’d never actually seen it until I met you. Brightest damn thing I’d ever seen.”

Mac wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but he was increasingly convinced it was going to give him a heart attack. He swallowed, all the brain function he had left entirely focused on making sure he kept breathing.

Jack’s expression sobered. “But you weren’t even 21 when we first met, and if anyone like me had tried something they’d have deserved to have their dick cut off.” He sighed. “Even if you were older, or I was younger, I still wouldn’t have had any right. I was a washed-up CIA guy doing babysitting work back in the sandbox because I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. You deserved so much more than anything I could have possibly had to give you.”

Mac’s eyes filled. No matter how long he lived, he would never forget what it felt like when Jack suddenly appeared at that truck window when he was supposed to be on his way back to Texas. “I drove you crazy.”

Jack’s lips curved a little. “For a hell of a lot more reasons than I ever told you. I tried to focus on the stuff I actually _could_ complain about, but you went and screwed that up, too.” Then the humor disappeared, leaving only a sort of fragile hope that made Mac’s heart feel like it could no longer fit in his chest. “I didn’t let myself call it love, not then, but I’ve been yours ever since you wouldn’t run when I told you to.”

Mac swallowed. “Please tell me I can kiss you right now.”

Jack’s voice was just as rough. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

They moved into the kiss together, achingly tender and full of enough heat to start him melting from the inside out. If he was shining now, it was because of the liquid fire running through his ribs and Jack’s hands like brands through the fabric of his t-shirt. It burned in the best way, enough that it felt like he would never be cold again.

When they broke apart, Mac leaned his forehead against Jack’s. “Stay,” he breathed, meaning the word every possible way there was.

Jack closed his eyes, like he needed a moment to handle everything he was feeling. “It’s like I said,” he murmured, voice rough as he leaned in for another kiss. “You have the best ideas.”


	2. Epilogue

Jack dreamed about Mac sometimes.  
  
He didn't mean the nightmares, the ones that always shot him awake on nights when the memory of might-have-beens got a little too close. Every time he saved Mac's life, Jack knew at some point he'd be forced to see a full-color movie play out where he didn't.  
  
But the dreams... they almost weren't even that much, really. It was more just impressions – the feel of a body next to him in the bed, warm breath on his neck and legs tangled together. He never opened his eyes, even in the dream – surest way to wake up – but he knew it was Mac anyway. It  _felt_  like him, whether it was the arm always wrapped securely around his middle or the utter warmth and peace inside his own chest. Only Mac could make him feel like that.  
  
Tonight, he  _really_  didn't want to accidentally wake himself up. He could feel Mac pressed up against his back, the best big spoon in the world. Mac's arm was around Jack, same as always, but this time their fingers were threaded together against Jack's chest. The pillow wasn't quite as comfortable as the one on his bed, for some reason, but that was the only—  
  
Memory flooded in. Jack opened his eyes, chest tightening as he took in the sight of Mac's bedroom in the pre-dawn light. Carefully, he started to shift around, stopping only when Mac's arm tightened around him like he was trying to keep him from leaving. Jack's throat closed up, and he pressed a kiss against the hand he was still holding before carefully shifting around the rest of the way.  
  
Mac was still sound asleep, lips curved upward a little like he was having the best dream in the world. Jack had never really let himself watch Mac sleep, since he'd spent a lot of years being real damn careful about the lines he left himself drift too close to. But he didn't have to worry about that anymore, which meant he could make up for lost time.   
  
He'd do _anything_ to make sure Mac always looked that happy.   
  
Slowly, gently, Jack reached out and brushed the hair away from Mac’s forehead. Mac's smile widened. "Morning, Jack," he murmured, still not opening his eyes.   
  
Jack's own lips curved up. "And a very good morning it is, too."  
  
At that, Mac's eyes opened wide, the initial flicker of surprise melting into something like awe. "It really happened," he breathed, his entire face lighting up.   
  
Jack swallowed, eyes stinging. "Yeah," he murmured. "It really did."  
  
The kiss was soft and sweet, the slow, tender exploration of two people who have all the time in the world. Jack felt like he was dissolving in the best way, melting into a happy puddle who only cared about being as close to Mac as humanely possible.   
  
When they broke apart, Mac cradled Jack's face with his hand. "Tell me you have a go bag in the car, and I don't have to let you go home early to change."  
  
Jack grinned. "I always have a go bag."   
  
He was rewarded with another kiss, just as sweet as before. "Still, you should probably bring some things over so you don't always have to rely on the go bag. I've got plenty of drawers."  
  
Jack's chest tightened at the easy promise in the words. "You should bring some things over to my place, too. Either that, or let me buy you some new pillows."  
  
"You _are_ the expert." Then Mac's expression turned vulnerable. "Listen, I know how I can get, but that doesn't mean you can't still demand alone time. I will _totally_ —"

Once he finally realized what Mac was trying to say, Jack cut him off with another kiss. " _I'm_ the one incapable of leaving _you_ alone, remember?" His heart felt too big to fit inside his chest. "Which means I'm the one who should be giving _you_ that speech."  
  
Mac's smile returned, brighter than ever. "Or we can make it up as we go, just like always."  
  
Jack tightened his arms around Mac, feeling like the luckiest guy in the entire world. "It's worked pretty well for us so far."  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
